Live at the Isle of Wight 1970

Jethro Tull | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Eagle Records
• ASIN: B00067HPFK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,270 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Just three years after their founding, Jethro Tull played the final day of the legendary Isle of Wight festival in 1970. With the crowd estimated at close to 600,000 people, the band was one of many impressive acts on this day, including The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Moody Blues, Free, and many more. The set mostly contains material from their first three albums, with the exception of "My God", which would appear several months later on their legendary "Aqualung" album.

Jethro Tull has earned 11 gold and 5 platinum albums over the course of their 37-year history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The same, but different., November 9, 2004

By 

G-Dexter (Lakewood, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Audio CD)

This Isle of Wight performance is another truly remarkable addition to the Jethro Tull catalogue and a nugget of pure gold. This particular performance took place on the last day of the festival, August 30th, 1970. Tull was one of the last groups to be featured, following a performance by The Moody Blues and directly preceding Jimi Hendrix, who would sadly die only 18 days later.

The set list is familiar to any fan of the early Tull years, featuring songs from their first three albums, and one song (My God) that wouldn't show up on an album until the release of the Aqualung album the following year. For what it's worth, some of these same songs also appear on disc #2 of the Jethro Tull 25th Anniversary Box Set, which was recorded on November 4th, 1970 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Taken together, these two performances give a very good picture of the whole Tull concert experience of that era.

The show starts out with a wonderful version of MY SUNDAY FEELING, and other highlights include DHARMA FOR ONE, BOUREE, and the perennial favorite NOTHING IS EASY (the song that has such a hard time coming to an end.)

While the performance is not quite as polished on this disc as it is during the later New York performance, the energy level is perceptibly higher, and Martin Barre is brilliant, as usual. Clive Bunker in particular gives one of his finest drum performances ever recorded, and the album is worth the money for that alone. If you're a fan, you've got to get this album.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That didn't take long..., November 28, 2004

By 

The Only Reviewer That Matters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Audio CD)

Well, it didn't take long for the Tull haters and snobs to crawl out from under their rocks and declare this CD a bust. "The sound is bad, the highs are pinched, blah blah blah..." It's all such pretentious nonsense. The CD was recorded 34 years ago, which (and I'm just guessing here) might have something to do with the less than perfect sound. And anyway, the sound really isn't bad at all. You get 60 minutes of a very young Tull blasting through their early material with fire and unstoppable energy. Sure, it's sloppy in places, but great rock and roll always is. That's the magic of live performance. You can hear the incredible maturity in later live works such as "Bursting Out," but what "Wight" lacks in finesse and polish it more than makes up for with sheer testosterone. This was a band on the brink of superstardom, and you can hear that confidence in every note. Five stars.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outrageously Great Tull, April 29, 2005

By 

Lawrence A. Strid (Mission Viejo, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Audio CD)

This has to be one of the best live rock albums I have ever heard, the energy imparted by the band and the sound quality is amazing, even though the keyboards are a little buried in the mix. Try and see the DVD as well, although the CD has three additional songs that for some unaccountable reason are not included on the DVD. Ian Anderson has to have been one of the most charismatic and exciting performers to ever grace a rock 'n roll stage, and his flute work is exhilirating, as is the instrumental prowess of the rest of the band. Special kudos to Clive Bunker for being one of the greatest but unheraded drummers in the rock universe. From watching the DVD, I think he was using two pedals on one bass drum, correct me if I am wrong on this. His drumming sweeps the band along as they perform songs from their first 4 albums, when they were at their peak. I can't say enough about this release, so I won't.